


Leave my Door Open Just a Crack

by cordeliagoodx



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, I'm so sorry, Nico is soft and so am I, Spoilers from season 2 are all over this fic, also she is the little spoon because I said so, i have no idea what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 07:23:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17178464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliagoodx/pseuds/cordeliagoodx
Summary: Nico sleeps better when Karolina holds her.





	Leave my Door Open Just a Crack

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a small one shoot and I have no idea what I did  
> English is not my first language so I'm sorry for any mistakes

Nico has always had trouble falling asleep. She remembers being young and fighting her parents in the middle of the night because she simply didn’t feel sleepy enough to go to bed. She remembers the decision to get Nico a room for herself, ‘cause then she wouldn’t bother other people at night with her loud toys.

Amy sometimes came to play with her, begging a five years old Nico to be quiet. Their parents could still hear Nico talking loudly and laughing, even if their room was the one further from Nico's, and Tina wasn’t the most patient person to deal with her insomniac child.

When she was eight, Tina decided she was old enough to go to a psychiatrist. Nico didn’t like it, but the meds worked, for a while she was able to sleep for a reasonable amount of time. However, they stopped working as easily as they started and at ten years old, the girl got back to staying awake for hours after bedtime. Her parents had given up on trying  to help and their only worry was to make sure she wouldn’t bother them, which she didn’t, she knew better, even as a child.

Things got a lot worse after Amy's death.

Before that, the girl could manage a few hours of sleep at night – not nearly enough, but still, she could handle it. After her sister died, Nico simply couldn’t sleep, she stayed awake for days in a row, laying in bed, stoic – she would cry occasionally, and she hated those days ‘cause her head felt too heavy the next day. The bags under her eyes felt like a part of her every time she looked in the mirror, the makeup helped though, so no one would notice.

She would pass out from exhaustion from time to time, her body shutting off and claiming some rest, and Nico was so glad when that happened, because being out meant not thinking, it meant not feeling exhausted like she did every time she was awake.

She knew someday, she would end up passing out somewhere she shouldn’t, and that somewhere turned out to be at school. Tina got there as fast as she could, surprising Nico – but really, she _was_ what was left of the Minoru's children and her mother could be terrible at showing off emotions, but she worried – sometimes.

Needless to say, she got back to the psychiatrist after that and she got back on her meds, and things were a little bit better again.

***

The first time she slept with Karolina by her side was after saving her from her parents. They decided to head to the van after a couple of hours with their friends, both of them tired from the day's event.

Nico was actually beyond tired, the past week had been the closest she had been to hell and she just wished her body would let her have some rest without the help of her meds – she doubted that, but no one can blame a girl for dreaming.

The van was uncomfortable and the blankets didn’t really help at all.

Karolina laid down and after a couple of seconds of awkwardness, Nico laid beside her, leaving some space between them, not really knowing what Karolina's limits were.

“Thank you for today.” Karolina whispered.

“I could never leave you behind Kar.” Nico said, eyes focused on the car's ceiling.

“I know.” Nico could almost see the smile in her girlf… In her something’s lips. Suddenly, Karolina came closer, snuggling up to Nico's side. The brunette tensed for a second before sighing contentedly, she liked the warm feeling of Karolina's body close to hers. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah, yeah… It is.” One of her arms found her way to the blonde's waist and she heard Karolina sigh. It wasn’t long before Nico could feel the girl’s breathing even out against her neck.

Nico’s eyes opened and she was surprised that she was able to fall asleep in the first place. She wasn’t in the most comfortable position, her back pressed against the van and her front pressed against Karolina's body, but she was warm enough, and Karolina seemed relaxed, so she simply closed her eyes again and appreciated the moment.

Nico was almost dozing off again when Alex showed up in the morning.

***

Sleeping in a tent was just impossible. At least for Nico it was, Karolina seemed to be very comfortable, one of her hands circling the brunette’s waist, her head resting in the crock of Nico's neck, their legs intertwined with one another. And Nico liked the feeling of the blonde cuddling her, she liked to feel the warm radiating from the other girl's body, she liked how she felt safe in her arms – even though they were literally fugitives, she liked having someone's company, but all of that just wasn’t enough for her body to relax, she was just too wired, and not having her meds didn’t help, so she spent the night thinking, about their situation, about Graciela, about Karolina… The girl was so beautiful, and Nico had trouble believe she actually liked _Nico._

Karolina was just so full of life, of _light –_ literally – and Nico had always been so dark. And she really didn’t imagine Karolina being into her, she hadn’t even thought about it before the blonde kissed her for the first time. But now… with the girl in her arms, mumbling softly in her sleep, the brunette wouldn’t have it any other way.

Nico ended up actually getting a few hours of sleep, body pressed against the girl next to her, enjoying her warmth.

***

The first night at the hostel was actually fine for Nico. That is, until the earthquake and Karolina’s disappearing. She couldn’t sleep after that.

***

Nico sighed as she untied the braids in her hair. Karolina had gone out of their room a while ago to pick up her things that were in the bedroom down the hall. The brunette was restless, still thinking about the confront with her parents, about Karolina getting hurt, Molly almost drowning. She knew she would probably stay up all night thinking about it.

“Hey.” Karolina’s raspy voice startled her, and she turned around to see the blonde smiling shyly from the bed. “Lay down with me.”

Nico was shocked to notice that the other girl was already changed and it made her wonder how much time it was since Karolina was back at the room and how she didn’t notice. She smiled and did as she was told, laying on her side so she could face the other girl properly. Even if she knew Karolina for most of her life, the blonde's beauty still amazed her, now more than ever.  She moved closer, pecking the girl’s lips and smiling when she felt Karolina smile.

“What are we?” Nico asked suddenly, feeling bold and desperately wanting to call Karolina hers. She was feeling so much, so quickly and it should scare her, but she trusted the other girl, even with her insecure heart. “I know all of our friends think we’re dating but we didn’t talk about it and…”

“Do you want us to be dating?”

“I… Yeah.” Nico nodded, cheeks flushed.

“Then we're dating.” Karolina smiled once again and Nico couldn’t help but do the same; joining their lips one more time. “Let's get some sleep yeah?”

Karolina turned around, bringing Nico's arm along with her and resting it around her waist.

Nico got very little sleep that night, but she found herself not caring that much; taking the time to observe her girlfriend.

_Her girlfriend._

***

Karolina was already in bed when Nico came to the room after her talk with Alex about his new girlfriend. The blonde smiled sleepily at her girlfriend and reached out to her. They laid side by side for a while, silence filling the room while they both took in the events of the day.

“My arm is still sore; I might have to kill Chase.” Nico whispered, smiling softly when she heard Karolina laugh by her side.

Things might be horrible, but that raspy laugh would always warm up the brunette's heart. Nico turned to her side, silently taking in the details of the woman laying next to her. She sighed.

“What?”

“Nothing, you’re just pretty.” Karolina's cheeks flushed. “Also I'm really tired, but I'm just too much of an insomniac to actually sleep.” Nico confessed.

“How much sleep have you been getting?” Karolina asked, worry evident in her voice. She found it weird that Nico would always go to sleep after her and was always awake when she got up, but now it made sense.

“A little?”

“Well, can I do something to help?”

Nico stared at ocean eyes in front of her, softly smiling at the girl. She wasn’t sure Karolina could do anything that would help her, but since the girl was asking, she thought it wouldn’t hurt to try.

“Could you hold me?” Suddenly, she felt shy under Karolina's gaze.

“Yeah, of course Nico. Come here.” The blonde’s arms opened in invitation.

Nico laid her head in her girlfriend's chest, and sighed contently when Karolina's hand started playing with her hair.

“Just try and relax ok?” The taller girl's voice was barely a whisper as she continued to work her way through Nico's hair. “We can’t have the leader of out group pass out from exhaustion one of these days.”

The brunette smiled sleepily, already feeling more relaxed then she felt in days, Karolina's warmth and Karolina's caressing lulling her faster than she thought it was humanly possible – for her at least.

Nico was out not even five minutes later, only waking up the next morning, still cuddled up to her girlfriend.

***

They switched positions after that and Nico was surprised to know that having Karolina hold her at night actually helped her sleep. The brunette couldn’t even think about the last time she managed to sleep a whole night and not wake up feeling exhausted, but apparently being engulfed by her girlfriend's warmth every night did the trick and she couldn’t be more thankful. They were in desperate times and they couldn’t afford to have any of them being too tired to fight when the time came.

After their fight and after Nico told Karolina to find another room, the smaller girl knew she wouldn’t be getting any sleep. When Karolina showed up at the door, Nico couldn’t help but sigh in relief, she was so glad she would be able to sleep.

Relief didn’t last long though, and Nico found herself being unable to even close her eyes that night. She felt like crying, she felt so betrayed, she couldn’t help it. How much time has Karolina known Jonah killed her sister? Did she actually cared more about her psycho father than she cared about her friends? About Nico?

For the first time, she didn’t feel safe in Karolina's arms, she felt cold, she felt suffocated and as soon as her girlfriend's breathing evened out, Nico left.

The next morning, Karolina woke up to an empty room for the first time since they got to the hostel.

***

Karolina ran up to the room as soon as they got back to the hostel, Molly following right after. Nico sat down on the staircase, not really paying any attention to what was happening around her, she heard Gert talking and she heard Alex talking but she simply didn’t care.

She killed someone.

She killed Jonah.

She killed her girlfriend’s father.

Well maybe her ex girlfriend now.

Nico had no idea how she’d actually done it. Obviously she hated Jonah, and obviously she was upset, but being a murder was her parent’s thing, not hers.

She could feel tears running down her cheeks. She knows she screwed up and she had no idea how to fix it. She didn’t even think there was any way to fix it, and it was breaking her heart.

She spent the whole night awake.

She spent many nights awake.

***

Nico couldn’t remember the last time she was this tired, or the last time she hurt this much.

Everything hurt. Her body was begging her to stop, to drop the staff, to let the other fight.

But she couldn’t do that.

So she kept going.

Nico kept going until the world around her turned black.

When she comes back to herself, Karolina is supporting her whole weight and Molly is asking what happened and everyone is looking her way and she has _no idea_ what she did. Every cop seems to be gone but their clothes are on the floor and Alex has her staff and Karolina is _holding her._

“I’m tired.” She mumbled, still a little out of it.

“Let’s get you to bed, Molly could you help me?” Karolina asked softly and the younger girl quickly helped. “I got her now, you guys can go.” She said as soon as Nico was laying on the bed.

The blonde took the brunette’s shoes and wiped her make up off. She tucked Nico in and was about to sit in the chair next to the bed when she felt a hand hold her wrist.

“Can you stay?” Nico’s voice was so uncertain and Karolina’s heart clenched.

“I’m just gonna sit right there.”

Nico shook her head, she was exhausted and she couldn’t care less about how much vulnerability she was showing.

“Hold me, please Karrie.” And Karolina knew she couldn’t deny it even if she wanted to. She nodded before getting into bed next to the brunette, pulling her close to her body and sighing, she’d missed this. “What did I do? I can’t remember, it’s all so fuzzy.”

“Sleep Nico, we’ll talk later okay? Just get some rest, I know you need it.”

And Nico did.

She slept through the day and night.

Karolina didn’t leave for one second.

At least not until Nico kicked her out the next day.

***

Nico got back to their room after the whole saving Karolina’s mom thing.

Karolina knew they had problems to talk through, they both knew that. But they both missed each other, and the blonde still couldn’t imagine going through it all without Nico by her side. She was also very aware of how much she helped her girlfriend’s sleeping schedule, and she was just too much of a selfless person to let Nico suffer with her insomnia any longer.

***

It was almost a week later when everything went downhill for Nico.

 _Again_.

Karolina was gone and she had no idea where she was. The only confirmation she was alive was Xavin saying so and she had no idea if she should believe the shape shifter.

Nico spent the night awake, eyes swollen and red from crying, and Leslie by her side.

Nico got back to sleeping only when her body shut off on its own, she simply couldn’t sleep without her girlfriend, and she didn’t want to, claiming every minute she was asleep was a minute Karolina lost.

She locked herself into her own little world, walls high once again.

Gert got back and Karolina was still gone.

It took them more than a month to find her and it took Karolina a week to recover, Nico stayed by her side the whole time.

When Karolina held her at night after everything, Nico wished she wasn’t so tired, she wished she could stay awake just cherishing the moment, but she fell asleep within minutes. It was okay tho, Karolina was still there in the morning, their bodies as close as humanly possible, and Nico remembers wishing she could wake up like that every morning. 

And her wish was granted.  

**Author's Note:**

> So you guys think Nico is going full dark next season?  
> It's been four days and I miss Deanoru wtf


End file.
